


I Care, You Idiot

by Oblivion_Wanderer



Category: EOS 10 (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Inaccuracies, Sad with a Happy Ending, Set during 108, Temporary Character Death, there is a happy end trust me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-28 05:21:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11411064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oblivion_Wanderer/pseuds/Oblivion_Wanderer
Summary: "Levi..." She laid her hand over his. "I'm here now, aren't I? Of course I care, you idiot."While Ryan and Akmazian are traveling to Io to retrieve Dr. Urvidian, Jane stays on Eos 10 with Levi as he slowly unravels.





	1. I Care, You Idiot

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place during ep. 108, 'Harsh Light of Another Day'
> 
> I recently listened to both seasons of Eos 10, and shortly after I finished season one, this idea came about. Since there was only one scene with Jane and Levi, I got to thinking, what else happened with the two while Ryan and Akmazian went to find Dr. Urvidian. I don't think I've seen any fics on this, so here you go.
> 
> I was also trying to estimate the time frame within 108, so I just went with my best guess. idk. it's 4 am here as I post this.

"He's _where_?" Jane growled, irritated.

"On Io." Ryan repeated. "At least we know where he is. However, It's going to take us about 24 hours just to get there."

Jane sighed. This was not ideal. "Shit."

"Yeah..." There was an awkward pause before Ryan added, "How's Levi?"

"Alright... for the time being. He's just overwhelmed."

"Can you blame him?"

"No. You literally told him he'd been poisoned and then he fainted. Do you think he can last that long?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything about how this poison works; how fast it...." Ryan trailed off. "Like I told Ak- Robin-

"I'm alone in the breakroom, you can say his name."

"Anyway, like I told him; Levi's strong. I'm... I'm sure he'll make it and everything will be okay."

Jane wasn't fooled; she could hear the doubt in her friend's voice. "Find Dr. Urvidian and get back as soon as you can. Also tell Dr. Urvidian I will kick his ass if Levi dies. I'm pissed at him leaving when we need him the most."

"Will do. I'll get back to you later. Keep an eye on Levi and tell me of any change in his condition."

"Got it."

The com link went dead and Jane hung her head.

 _'This is a fucking disaster.'_ She thought. It was a disaster; Dr. Urvidian's gone awol, Levi was poisoned and could very well be dying- Jane hated everything about this.

Jane returned to the room they'd put Levi up in for the time being. He'd looked restless before Ryan called her, and hoped he didn't run off somewhere. They both knew that eventually Levi's condition could worsen because of the poison, so they needed him to stay in the infirmary to keep an eye on him. Luckily when she walked through the door, she found that Levi was still where she left him.

"Hello, nurse Johns." Levi greeted in his usual style, though not sounding as cheerful as he usually did.

 _'Least he stayed put.'_ Jane thought.

"Hey." Jane replied, trying to put on a smile. "How do you feel?"

"I'm not sure. I feel, how you say, 'off'." He folded his hands atop his lap, looking a bit anxious. "Where did Dr. Dalias go?"

"To find Dr. Urvidian." Jane explained. "Dr. Dalias thinks he knows where Dr. Urvidian went and left with Akmazian to get him. They'll be back as soon as they can. In the meantime, you're stuck with me for company since I've been tasked with keeping an eye on you. Dr. Dalias' orders."

Levi didn't look convinced. "They'll find him, right?"

"Yeah."

"And then you'll fix me?"

"Of course." Jane assured him. She didn't have the heart to tell him Ryan and Akmazian had gone to Io and it would take them a day to get there. She needed to keep an air of optimism, for both their sakes. "You mind if I take your vitals real quick?"

He only gave her a simple nod and she set to work.

Jane took his pulse, blood pressure, temperature, and listened to his breathing. The only real thing she noticed were that his temperature was slightly elevated. Levi remained quiet while she had taken his vitals, obediently following her orders. She couldn't imagine what must be going through his head, knowing that he had been poisoned and could die. If his panic earlier was any indication of how much this had frightened him, then Jane could only imagine what he must be feeling now.

Levi had always been a hypochondriac since the first day she met him, which she had found annoying, and the arrival of what he persistently called the "plague ship" didn't help. However, Jane remembered the conversation she had with Levi before Ryan and Akmazian came barging in and scaring Levi so bad he fainted. Levi had told her about a persistent sense of unease, and she had just thought he was being paranoid, but given where they both found themselves now, it seemed Levi's unease was justified after all.

As Jane pulled the stethoscope away from Levi's chest, Jane looked up at him and caught his eye. He flashed a smile at her and she gave him one in return, but she knew for both of them it was only masking the anxiety, the fear.

"We know you're being affected, but the only thing I notice so far is a slight rise in temperature." Jane said, recording the results on her tablet. She'd gather them up and send them to Ryan, let him stay updated on Levi's condition. God knows Ryan needed something to read while trapped on a literal day trip to Io with Akmazian. "I'll get you some water, okay?"

Jane momentarily left his side to fetch him some water. She filled a plastic cup with water and brought it back to him. It wasn't much, but it was the least she could do. Jane handed the cup to Levi, who drank from it gratefully. After a moment, he handed it back to her, and she set the cup aside.

"Help any?" She asked.

Levi shifted uncomfortably in the bed. "A little. Nurse Johns, may I ask for your assistance with something?"

"Er, sure."

"I need some paper and a pencil. Or a tablet if that's a better method. Or maybe the former and then you could transcribe it onto-"

"Levi, slow down. Why?"

"I feel like I should make a will, just in case."

"Levi, don't talk like that." Jane gently chided. "Don't talk like you're going to die."

"But what if I am?"

Okay, he did have a point. Even if they couldn't see it, Ryan had confirmed there was something going on with Levi. And if they couldn't see it, then they were at a disadvantage, and that disadvantage could prove to be fatal.

"Fine." Jane sighed. She opened a new word document on her tablet. "You know how to use this, right?"

"Of course."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Certain. I need to."

"Okay. Just let me send an update on your condition to Dr. Dalias and we can get started."

Jane sent her report, handed Levi the tablet, pulled up a chair, and settled herself in. Levi set off on writing his will, and he started telling Jane about the ones he intended to leave things to, beginning with his brothers. Jane hadn't really heard him talk about his family before, so this was all new to her. Levi looked to be at least enjoying talking about them, maybe glad to have someone to listen, and Jane did listen; making comments or asking questions from time to time.

For a half hour, he kept typing, and explaining non-stop about his family members and letting insight onto his life on Arian 7. Although Jane was kind of enjoying hearing about Levi's family, by the time he got to brother number seven, she was kind of worried about Levi overdoing it.

"Hey, Levi, why don't you take a break."

He didn't stop or look up. "No, no. It's fine. This needs to be completed."

Jane pursed her lips, not pleased. He was starting to look pale. "I really think you should rest-"

"Please, nurse Johns." Levi interrupted her, looking up from his list. "It's important. If I don't make it-"

"Levi-"

"If I don't make it," He persisted. "it's important that all my affairs are in order."

"Okay." She replied, exasperated. He was being stubborn.

"Now, to my 7th brother Tymad, I leave-"

"How many brothers do you have?" Jane asked, cutting in.

"43- well, no- 42. The 27th was executed; after my father discovered him in a rather delicate and compromising position that embarrassed the family to no end."

Jane found herself astounded at the number of brothers, just brothers alone, that Levi had. Also at the fact one of them had been executed. The way Levi worded it too made Jane think of an old tale from back on Earth, and she couldn't help from jokingly making a reference.

"With... your mother?" She asked in faux seriousness.

"What?" Levi looked a bit appalled. "No. My Gods- he was found with one of the housekeepers. 'Mother'?"

"Sorry," She apologized, shaking her head. "It's an old Earth story. It just seemed where you were heading with that..." She stopped with that thought. "He really executed your brother for having sex with a servant?"

"Sex? Oh no; nothing of the sort. They were found... dining together. At a local eatery known for its mixture of alcoholic beverages."

"Wow." It was all she could say in response.

"It was completely unacceptable." His tone was serious.

 _'Okay then._ _'_ Jane thought, the reasoning seeming sort of harsh. Whatever though; she didn't know anything about the place Levi came from or what it was like growing up there. She wondered at times if maybe the sort of climate he was raised in contributed to his hypochondria.

As she pondered that once more, the expression on his face suddenly changed and now he looked dazed.

"Oh my." He muttered, bringing a hand his his head. His voice sounded weaker.

Jane, on reflex, reached out and gently grabbed his shoulder as he swayed. She thought he was going to pass out again. "Are you alright?"

Levi momentarily closed his eyes, took a breath, and then opened them again. "Just a sudden spell of vertigo."

"Let me take a look."

Jane coaxed him to lie back in the bed, though he still looked dazed. She took a penlight and looked into his eyes, watching his pupils contract. Then she took one of the scanners and gave Levi a scan. When she was done, she brought up the reading on the tablet to see if it came back with anything.

"Are you detecting anything?" Levi asked.

Jane shook her head. "Nothing that could be a cause." She knew something was wrong, but not why it wasn't being detected.

A beat of silence passed between them, until Levi broke it by saying, "Perhaps you should remove my pants."

Jane wanted to facepalm herself. _'Of fucking course. At least you're still you.'_

Instead she rolled her eyes. "Okay... No. Seriously, I have no idea what's with you and pants. Ever considered skirts? Or a kilt?"

Levi didn't respond to that, busying himself with picking the tablet pack up. "Now, where was I?"

"Your 7th brother." Jane supplied.

"Ah, yes; Tymad." He muttered, returning to typing. Jane returned to the chair at Levi's bedside.

"I know this is important to you, but just take it easy, okay?"

"When it's done, nurse Johns."

So she stayed and listen to him talk on for the next couple hours about his family; all of his brothers and all of his sisters. She urged him a few more times to rest, but Levi insisted he couldn't stop till he was done. He blessedly stopped at his immediate family only, though he did have cousins, just not any he felt like leaving anything to should the worst come to pass. It was interesting to say the least, especially with a family as extensive as this. Jane wondered if Levi missed any of them, if he was close to any of them before he got kicked off his own planet. Well, certainly not the brother that was executed.

By the time Levi was done and handed the tablet back to her, he looked somewhat worn out. Jane took the tablet from him and then took his temperature again.

"You're running a fever." She reported. She took his cup and refilled it with water, and then took a cloth and wet it down with cold water. She returned with both items; handing the cup to Levi and then sitting on the edge of the bed to lean over and dabbing his forehead with the wet cloth.

"You don't need to." He protested, trying to turn his head away.

"Hey, who's in charge here?" Jane countered.

"You're not Dr. Dalias."

"But he is the one who tasked me with watching over you and keeping him informed of your condition. So, as his colleague, I am going to do what Dr. Dalias asked of me. You're sick; let me help."

Levi sighed and took a sip from the water as Jane pulled away. She was tempted to thread an IV into him if this kept up. If he started getting worse, she'd probably have to.

"Will you rest now?" She asked for what felt like the millionth time. "You've got your will done."

"Ah, well, you might have to run it through a translation program for me. Your tablet types in Human English. If you could, I need it transcribed to Arian. "

"Can do. They're so much better than they were decades ago. I'll let you look it over later to make sure everything's accurate, okay?"

"Okay." He parroted, but sounding downcast.

Jane frowned. "Levi, don't worry. We're going to fix you. You'll be fine; and don't start with the 'unease' bullshit. It's going to be okay. Look," She showed him the last temperature reading. "It's not entirely good, but the fact you have a fever shows your immune system is reacting to something. Something is there, we just... we can't see it. God, I feel like I'm on an episode of House."

" 'House'?"

"Old medical mystery drama from the early 21st century. Mostly centers around this brilliant yet kinda crazy jackass of a doctor and-" Jane suddenly had a revelation. "Oh my God, Dr. Urvidian is so like House. And that makes Ryan Wilson! Kinda. Wait, then who does that make me?"

"I'm not sure I follow." Levi chimed in.

"It's nothing; making comparisons." She got up from the bed. "I'm gonna go to the cafeteria to get something to eat."

She started toward the door and was about to leave when Levi called out from behind her.

"You're leaving?"

Jane turned back around to see him looking anxiously at her. There was something in his voice too, small and almost pleading, as if he was-

Oh.

 _'You don't want to be alone.'_ Jane realized. _'You're scared.'_

She could hardly blame him. Levi had no idea what was happening to him, only that he had been poisoned. Nether she or Ryan couldn't detect anything ether, which probably wasn't helping any stress he might be feeling. He'd been pretty shaken when Ryan first dropped that bombshell, so if he was scared and not wanting to be alone, then it was understandable.

God knows if Jane was in Levi's position, she wouldn't really want to be alone ether. She'd want a friend.

Jane approached his bed again. "I'm kinda stuck with you for..." She avoided saying the next 48 hours. No need to frighten him further. Any added stress might be to the poison's advantage. "Until they get back with Dr. Urvidian. I won't be gone long, and I won't be too far away. I'll make my meal quick and I'll be right back, so just rest."

"You will come back, right?"

"I promise."

 

* * *

 

It was weird not seeing Levi in the kitchen. Jane had grown used to seeing him there for so long that it had just become sort of a regular sight. As had finding him in one of the exam rooms; his pants off and thinking he was sick.

Honestly, when she had first met Levi, he annoyed her. A hypochondriac with a thing against pants and apparently a former prince- really? He took up a place in the kitchen as a dishwasher and quickly became a regular visitor to the infirmary, so Jane had gotten used to seeing him around. She'd grown to expect his regular visits and seeing glances of him in the kitchen.

Regardless- Levi may be a hypochondriac, and an idiot who may get on her nerves from time to time, and Jane may never understand why he disliked pants, but Jane didn't hate him.

She didn't hate him. She did care about him though.

Levi was a generally okay-ish person, with a hidden dark side, granted (she was 99% sure he was the one who blew up the Dauntless), and a dash of paranoia. But since around the time of Ryan's arrival to Eos 10, they had moved closer to being friends.

Jane remembered their conversation earlier in the day; the joy Levi had expressed at his promotion. He'd looked happy, and it was rather nice to see him happy instead of freaking out over nothing. Hearing that he wanted to be head chef too, his expressions of one day having that role- Jane could see how he liked talking about it.

Levi was happy here, and slowly making his way along in this place that was practically foreign to him.

But then he'd started talking about a feeling of unease, and then Ryan came along with Akmazian, and then... well. Jane knew one day that there was going to be a legitimate reason for Levi to be in the infirmary, but she just didn't think today would be that day, especially with current circumstances.

Jane preferred Levi when he was smiling, instead of pale and miserable like he was now.

As she passed by the kitchen, she couldn't help but recall the moment Ryan told Levi he was poisoned and he fainted in shock. Jane had managed to catch him before he hit the ground, though suddenly taking his weight had made her loose balance and sent her to the ground as well with him. Ryan had been hovering next to her as she held Levi, Ryan trying to get him to wake.

Jane shuddered at the memory. _'How did we get here?_ _'_

When she finished what was more like a snack she grabbed some coffee and started to head back to the infirmary. She did see Dr. Osolong on her way out, and she was tempted to stop and watch him for a few minutes, but she decided against it.

She'd promised Levi she'd come back. She couldn't leave him alone.

 

* * *

 

"Levi, I'm back, as promised." Jane announced as she walked into the room.

Levi turned up his head, rather sluggishly, and opened his eyes. He gave a tiny smile. "You are."

"Told you so. Did I wake you? You looked like you were-"

"Oh no." He said dismissively. "I merely was resting my eyes."

Jane chuckled. "I brought you some food."

Levi shook his head. "I don't need it."

"Levi." She huffed. "You need to eat something; keep your strength up."

"I don't feel like eating anything. Besides if it came from the kitchen, I don't want it."

"What? Do you think everything else in the kitchen could be poisoned?"

"Yes."

 _'Of course.'_ Jane thought, though he wasn't entirely wrong to worry about that.

"First off, Dr. Dalias said it was only those stupid eggs that had the poison. Second, I'll have you know, what I brought you isn't from the kitchen." She handed Levi a small plastic bag. "I have some snacks stashed in my room, so I took a quick detour by and grabbed you this."

He studied the bag and it's contents. "Are these cookies?"

"Yeah. And these absolutely did not come from the kitchen. I think these are shortbread. You can eat them, right?"

"Of course, but- Are you sure these are safe?"

"Yup. Eat whatever you want just... just eat something, okay?"

Levi stared at the bag again, as if it had offended him, and then hesitantly took one of the small cookies. Jane didn't really expect him to eat any of it if he insisted on being so stubborn, but he did bite off a small part of it.

After a moment, he swallowed and looked up at Jane. "Maybe I can have a little."

Jane smiled. "Good. While I was out, I also was able to put your will through a translation program, so now it's in your native language. You can look through it to make sure everything's in order.

Jane brought up the file on her tablet and handed it to Levi for a language check. Like she had told him, the translator programs were well improved these days, but she would let him look it over to see if any corrections needed to be made.

She sat with Levi as he went back through, making a few corrections from what the translator program had scanned and eating a couple of the cookies. When that was complete, Jane moved it to a flashdrive and handed said flashdrive to Levi.

"Here you go. A digital of your will." Jane said. "Hopefully you won't need it."

Levi studied the flashdrive, but, to Jane's surprise, handed it back to her. "You keep it until it's needed."

"Levi," She looked down at the flashdrive. "I'm not the best for-"

"I'm the only one of my species here. Since you are the one overseeing me I trust you to keep this safe." He insisted.

Jane hesitantly took the flashdrive back. "You sure?"

"I'm sure."

Jane was kind of surprised that Levi would actually ask this of her, but he did have a point. Still...

 _'I hope you won't need it.'_   She couldn't help but think.

The coms link suddenly chimed, meaning someone was calling. Jane looked at the bracelet on her wrist, where her personal coms were located, and saw that it was Ryan calling.

"It's Dr. Dalias." She said before pressing a button to answer the call.

"Hey, Jane." Ryan said.

"Hey. I'm with Levi right now, as you asked of me."

"Hello, Dr. Dalias!" Levi chimed in.

"Oh, hey. How are you feeling, Levi?"

"Oh, um..." He wrung his hands together. "I'm not feeling entirely great. I'm actually feeling a bit feverish, tired, but not to worry- nurse Johns has been keeping me company."

"Okay, well, make sure you rest plenty. You understand me?"

"Yes."

"How's the trip?" Jane asked.

"Er... fine. A bit weird, to be honest." Ryan confessed.

"Weird how?"

"I'm not telling you with Levi right there. Besides, I only called to ask about him."

"Well, he's fine for now. Or fine-ish, I guess, given what he just told you. Let's just say stable condition."

"Find anything?"

"No, nothing." Jane replied. "Nothing of cause is showing up."

"Alright. Just keep monitoring Levi." Another voice came into the feed, though Jane could only hear it slightly. She could only assume it was Akmazian. "I gotta go. Akmizian wants to play some monopoly to pass the time."

"What is this 'monopoly'?" Levi asked.

"An evil game that will make you loose all your friends and want to flip a table and maybe set something on fire. Keep me updated, Jane."

Ryan canceled the call, leaving the two to themselves once more.

"What's monopoly?" Levi asked. "Sounds fun."

"You don't want to know."

Levi still looked a curious. "Is there something we can play? To pass the time until they get back."

"Did you hear what Dr. Dalias said? You should be resting." She took her tablet and stood from the bed. "In the meantime, I want to take a sample of your blood, see if we missed anything.

He looked at her skeptically. "Is that really necessary?"

Jane crossed her arms. "If we're gonna figure out how to fix you, then yes." She paused, an idea coming to mind. "Tell you what? You let me do this, you get some rest, and I'll owe you one game of something that isn't monopoly, granted you feel up to it."

He smiled. "Deal."

 

* * *

 

The readout from the blood sample didn't really help much ether. She didn't find anything that was already unknown before, nothing cause related anyway. Before she had found the message Dr. Urvidian had left, Ryan had told her that he was seeing some cell damage, and she was seeing that here as well. She knew enough to know what came after.

 _'That poison's done this to him.'_ Jane thought, bitterly. _'I don't care if we're_ _technically_ _flying blind, I know that poison's doing this and making him sick.'_

None of it was good, but she wasn't seeing any other major changes yet. Maybe this was a slow acting poison. Still, it wasn't getting any closer to figuring out a cause. It was like they were running in circles.

_'This is bullshit.'_

Frustrated, Jane sent the findings to Ryan and then headed down to the rec room on a lower floor of the station. She knew they had a few board games, and she officially owed Levi a game of something. As long as it wasn't monopoly.

 

* * *

 

"Since you're apparently all about strategy- Have you ever played chess?"

Levi examined one of the pieces. "I believe I know the basic rules. I've played two or three times before."

"Awesome. You want the white pieces or the black pieces?"

"White. Where did you find this, by the way?"

"In the rec room. It's kinda good to see chess is still alive and well in this day and age."

"Is chess a popular game on Earth?" Levi asked, gathering up his pieces.

Jane shrugged. "I guess. I mean there's still tournaments for this thing. Chess has been around on Earth for a long, long time."

Jane gathered up her pieces and they set up the board. Once it was set up, Levi spoke again.

"Nurse Johns, can you explain why that game Dr. Dalias mentioned is apparently evil. I'm not sure how a game can be evil."

"Oh, monopoly is evil. Trust me. I always become a grain of pure salt by the end when I play it."

"Why do you turn into salt?"

Jane scoffed and moved the first piece forward. "Allow me to explain."

 

* * *

 

Around 22:47 Levi began to take a turn for the worse. Although it began with a bit of excitement... of sorts.

Jane had been sleeping, at Levi's insistence that if he had to be on bed-rest then she should let herself rest as well, arguing that she shouldn't exhaust herself trying to take care of him. She begrudgingly gave in and lugged her old yogibo down to the room, ignoring all the looks she got from other people on the way there. She could sleep just fine on that; she'd done it before when she was too tired to crawl into bed after a long day. Levi was, of course, fascinated by it.

She and Levi had both agreed to get some rest, and hopefully he would abide by that. He had so far; letting her take his vitals every so often and letting her take a sample of his blood. Jane decided to take that chance and let herself rest.

When Jane woke she rolled onto her back and stretched her limbs. She then pushed herself up onto into a sitting position and glanced over to Levi's bed-

Levi wasn't there.

Jane groaned and resisted the urge to sink back down into the yogibo. "God dammit, Levi."

She rolled off the yogibo and got to her feet, not preferably happy she had to go out and look for Levi at this hour. She had no idea where he could have gone and she didn't know how long he'd been gone ether, so she resigned herself to the possibility he could be anywhere on Eos 10.

And when she found him, she was probably going to tie him down to the bed.

Jane headed out of the infirmary and tried to think about where Levi could have gone. Her first thought was maybe to the kitchen, but then again he might be avoiding the place for now, given he apparently thought everything in the kitchen was poisoned. Her second thought was that maybe he was hiding in his actual room. It would be a good place to start, and if she had to, she would ask if anyone had seen him about.

So Jane trudged along through the corridors, deciding to go across the arboretum as a shortcut.

The lights were dimmed in the arboretum, as was standard procedure for the evening hours. She'd never been in here at this hour, but she would admit that there was something soothing about the atmosphere. She could remark on that later though; right now she had to find Levi.

Thankfully it didn't take very long.

Jane was still in the arboretum when she passed by the front of the greenhouse. However, as she did she caught something out of the corner of her eye and she stopped. Turning around, she saw Levi; sitting up against the side of the greenhouse, his knees drawn to his chest.

"Levi." She called.

He looked up to meet her eyes, though startled by the sudden call of his name. "N-Nurse Johns, I thought you were asleep."

"Yeah, I was, until I awoke from my nap to find you were gone, you idiot." She said as she approached him. Then she realized that came out a bit harsh and she remembered- be patient; he's sick. Jane got down on her knees to be eye level with him. She dropped her voice to a softer tone. "Sorry... Why are you out here? You should be in bed."

"Nightmare." He muttered.

"Oh. Levi, you could have woken me if you had a bad dream."

"No, I just... I couldn't be there. I was restless. It was far too warm, and I needed air, and you looked so peaceful sleeping there on that oversized bean bag, and... and..."

"Is that why you came here?"

He nodded. "I like it. It's calming."

He didn't need to say anymore for her to understand. Jane reached out and placed a hand on his knee. "You wanna talk about it? You don't have to, of course."

Levi was quiet, not meeting her eyes. Jane would not push him to say anything he didn't want too, but at the same time she really wanted him to get back in bed. Still, she'd give him time to calm down. She'd never seen Levi like this, and frankly it pulled at her heart.

Eventually, still not looking at her, he said something. "I dreamed I could never return home."

Jane knew his story already... well, some of it. She knew he was a cast out prince pretty much kicked off his home world due to some troubles on the planet. She imagined Levi got homesick from time to time, longing for Arian 7. All he probably had of the place were his belongings and memories. She couldn't imagine never being able to go home again or what that fear was like for Levi, who had lived on Arian 7 for most of his life until he ended up here on Eos 10.

"What if I can never go back?" He lamented. "What if I die here? What if this poison kills me?"

"Hey, hey- look at me. Look at me, Levi." Jane commanded. Levi slowly turned his eyes up to her. "First off, enough with the death talk, even if you were right about that unease you felt. Second; even if you, somehow, are never able to go back to Arian 7, you'll always have a home on Eos 10, with me, Dr. Dalias, and Dr. Urvidian."

"Do you believe that?"

"I know it."

He looked to relax, and then his smile came back. "Thank you, nurse Johns. Your words have helped."

"No problem. Let's get you back to bed, yeah?"

She stood first and held out her hand to help Levi up. He took her hand and got himself to his feet, but when he did, he swayed. Jane thought he just stood too quickly, but she didn't get to ask, as Levi tried to take another step and end up toppling right onto Jane.

"Whoa." She grabbed Levi to stabilize him, putting all of her strength into keeping them from falling to the floor. Jane would prefer not to relive the kitchen memory.

"Sorry." Levi muttered.

"Are you okay?"

Levi shook his head. "No. That's the other thing- I don't feel right. I thought it was just from the nightmare and I just needed air, but I don't think that's the case."

"Gee, what gave that away?" Jane reached her hand up to feel his forehead. "Jesus, you're burning up."

"I take it that's bad."

"Yeah." She took him on one side, moving his arm to lay across her shoulders."I've got you. Just try not to pass out until we get back to the infirmary."

He leaned on her as they made their way back, and if anyone up at this hour passed them by and asked her what was up with the former prince she would just answer, "He's drunk. Taking him to the infirmary so he doesn't choke on his own vomit."

Jane kind of wished that was the case instead of this.

 

* * *

 

The moment she got Levi back into bed it looked like all strength had left him; his eyes fluttering shut and giving a long sigh. She'd adjusted the sheets over him, hooked him up back to the monitors, and took his temperature once more. By Human standards it was now up to 102. She took the scanner and ran it over his body again. She could see things she already knew- like the fact his immune system was at least reacting- but she still couldn't find a damn cause.

 _'Worst game of hide and seek ever'_ Jane thought.

"I don't know enough about your biology," She told him. "but for now I'm gonna set you up on an IV drip. That should at least be agreeable with you."

She set up the IV drip and then carefully inserted it into Levi. She hoped it would help him a little bit. When it was all set up and running she looked over the results of the scan, reading what new things had appeared.

It wasn't good, to say the least.

One thing she was keeping an eye on, as per Ryan pointing it out through their messaging back and forth over the past several hours, was any cellular damage; if it was concentrated in higher levels any one area. She was seeing something along those lines, unfortunately regarding Levi's respiratory system.

In her mind this meant he was getting worse, which meant they were running out of time.

"Nurse Johns?" Came a quiet, tired voice.

Jane jumped, startled, and she whirled around to face Levi. His eyes were open. "Yeah?"

"Do you think Dr. Dalias and Akmazian have found Dr. Urvidian?"

"I sure hope so, Levi."

"Me too. I want to be cured as soon as possible, but admittedly I miss their company."

"I'm still here, you know." She joked.

"I know you are. I can see you."

"Is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all?"

"No, you've done enough for me already. Go back to sleep; I'll be fine."

"You sure?" Jane asked.

"Yes. I know you'll be here if I need anything."

Jane nodded, but still she took her yogibo and dragged it closer to Levi's bed. "If you do, just poke me or some shit."

"Is that thing comfortable?" He asked.

"Sure is."

"I'll have to try it sometime."

 _'Yeah, if you make it that long.'_ A traitorous part of Jane's brain whispered to her.

"Go to sleep, Levi."

After saying this, Jane quickly typed up an update for Ryan and sent it off to him before settling down on the yogibo and hoping to get a little more sleep. And hopefully Levi would still be there when she woke up.

 

* * *

 

"Where are you guys now?" Jane asked, rubbing at her eyes. It had been over 14 hours since Ryan and Akmazian had first left. She'd gone back to sleep after hooking up an IV drip to Levi and sending out her updated report, but didn't stay asleep for long, a couple hours maybe, but even upon waking and deciding to call Ryan, she was tired. She'd quietly left Levi's room and went into the breakroom as to not disturb Levi.

"Two-thirds to Io." Ryan replied. "And Levi?"

"Asleep." She yawned. This whole ordeal was going to mess up her sleep schedule for sure. "I'm still with him. We played chess some hours ago because I owed him a game. Also he asked me to explain monopoly- by the way, lets never play that with him. He'd ether beat us both at it or put salt in our coffee."

"That's fair, and a bit scary. I mean, he did blow up the Dauntless."

"Don't remind me. Also he told me about one of the Aryatic Games he predicted the winner of. It was... interesting. Anyway, I've slept here, mostly because you told me to stay with him and because he asked and I told him I would. I mean at least he's resting, but that might be because he's fatigued. He bolted earlier in the night because he had a nightmare, but I got him back. Found him in the arboretum. He almost fell over when I got him off the floor though." She paused, tapping her fingers against the surface of the table. "You read the reports I sent you?"

"I did." Ryan said solemnly. "I am seeing more cell damage regarding his respiratory system, same as you. Have you found anything at all? A cause?"

"I told you before, I haven't been able to detect anything. Right now I've got him hooked to an IV and I got him to eat a little earlier, but..." She trailed off.

"I know, Jane."

Jane drew in a deep breath. "Ryan, I'm not sure if he'll make it. The longer this goes on, the less I start to think this will end well. Even when you get to Io, you still got another 24 hours to get back here. If Levi keeps getting worse- you guys are going to be cutting it close. Do you know he asked me to help write his will? His _will_ , Ryan."

"How did you respond?"

"What did you think I would say? I was the only one there and I couldn't exactly turn him down. He made a good point, you know. He honestly thinks he's going to die, which he kinda is." Jane ran a hand through her hair. "Some irony this is. Knowing him as long as we have, you'd think the last person to end up in this sort of situation would be Levi."

"Yeah. I remember when I first met him; he was just standing in an exam room waiting for you." Ryan said wistfully.

"Were his pants off?"

"What do you think?"

Jane chuckled, but it didn't improve her mood. "...I don't want him to die, Ryan."

"I don't want him to ether. He's... he's our friend."

"Annoying quirks and all." Jane added. "What are we supposed to do though? You're a surgeon and I'm no Dr. Urvidian. Plus it doesn't help that we can't detect what's causing this other than knowing that he definitely was poisoned."

"I don't know. Keep him comfortable and calm, I guess. Try to keep his temperature down at the least, and be watchful of any respiratory problems that might develop."

"Will do, I just... I wish I could do more for Levi. If only I knew as much as Dr. Urvidian."

"Yeah. Being a surgeon doesn't exactly help when you're dealing with poison."

Jane made a noise of agreement. "Have you been able to sleep any?"

"In between trying to figure out what's going on with Levi, worrying about Dr. Urvidian, and resisting the urge to throw a game board at Akmazian's head- Here and there. Akmazian is asleep now." Ryan answered, sounding tired himself.

"Hm, and, ah, the weirdness you mentioned?"

"I'll tell you later. After we get Levi better."

"Aw, but Levi's not around. I'm in the freakin' breakroom by myself."

"Later. Now go get some sleep. It's like... what there?"

"About 1:31 in the morning."

"I rest my case."

The line went dead and Jane slumped against the table, enjoying the quiet stillness of the breakroom while she was still here. She was tired though, so eventually she got up and went back to Levi.

She took one last look at him, asleep on the bed, before laying back down on her yogibo and drifting back to sleep

_'I hope you're not too late, Ryan.'_

 

* * *

 

Jane woke at around 7:46, though she found Levi was already up before her. Rather, to be more accurate, she found him looking down at her from his bed.

"Levi?!" She exclaimed, startled, fully waking her up now.

"Good morning, nurse Johns."

She glared at him. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Startle me by- nevermind." She rubbed at her eyes and got up from the yogibo. Levi was sitting up, still looking pale and out of it, but aware at least. She pushed the yogibo into a corner and returned to Levi. "How long have you been up?"

"Half hour?"

"And you were watching me while I slept?"

"Maybe." His voice wavered and then broke into a cough.

 _'That's new.'_ Jane noted, although Ryan had warned her to be watchful of respiratory problems based on the latest information she gave him. _'And here I thought for a moment_ _waking up to find you looking down at me from your bed might have meant_ _you might have been better.'_

Jane leaned over and placed a hand on Levi's back, rubbing circles between his shoulder blades. "Shh, it's okay. You're okay." She waited till he had calmed down to speak again. "How long has this been going on?"

"I think since... since I woke." He croaked, giving a wince.

"Are you experiencing any chest pain?"

He nodded. "When I cough."

"Let me take a listen here." She grabbed a stethoscope and placed it on his chest. "Breathe in and out for me."

He started to do as she asked, but on the second pass he made a pained noise and flinched away from her.

"What's wrong?" Jane asked.

"Hurts."

"When? Like when you breathe deeply, or..."

"Not much; sometimes."

 _'Shit. This is not good.'_ Jane thought. Ryan was right to warn her. But this cough and chest pain hadn't been present before, so she could only assume that this had recently developed overnight. _'With his luck he might as well have pneumonia... Actually that would be easier to deal with than this.'_

"Okay, just lay back and take it easy." Jane instructed. Levi followed her order, looking anxious and fearful. "Does it hurt when you breathe regularly?"

"Just an... an ache." He replied, his hands curled in the sheets. "Did they come back? Dr. Dal-" Another cough. "Dr. Dalias and Akmazian?"

Jane pursed her lips. "Um, no. They haven't found Dr. Urvidian ether. Dr. Dalias would have told me if they did."

Levi blinked rapidly a couple times, looking upset. "I'm going to die, aren't I?"

"Don't... Don't say that, Levi. Just calm down-"

"Dr. Urvidian's run off and Dr. Dalias hasn't returned in nearly a day! Do not tell me to be calm!" He exclaimed. "I told you I've been feeling unease and how they've left me here to die!"

"No, no, no. He did not leave you here to die, Levi. Dr. Dalias left to find Dr. Urvidian so he could bring that mad hatter of a doctor back to help you and make you better. No one is giving up on you; not me, not Dr. Dalias."

"You are just trying to... to..." He started coughing again. Jane got him sitting up and sat with him as he rode out the spell, returning her hand to his back and whispering soothing words to him.

She laid him back when the coughing ceased, though now he looked worse than before (if that was even possible). Now that she looked at him closely, she wondered how much sleep he really got, noticing the dark circles under his eyes.

"Catch your breath, Levi. Slow and steady." Jane urged. It took him a minute, since he likely exerted strain on his lungs, but he calmed and Jane spoke again. "I don't know where Dr. Dalias is, but I talked to him early in the morning while you were sleeping. He said he's closing in on Dr. Urvidian, and he is aware of what's going on. Dr. Dalias is worried about you too, you know. We both are.So believe me when I say nether of us are giving up on you."

Levi looked like he wanted to snap back some remark, but he never got that far. Instead he looked away from her and crossed his arms.

Jane sighed and left the bed, knowing she should just let him cool down. "I'm going to get some breakfast..."

He never answered her, so Jane left the room, though telling herself to make her breakfast quick.

 _'Stupid, stubborn, deposed idiot of a prince.'_ Jane thought.

 

* * *

 

Jane grabbed more coffee, a pancake, and a bottle of water for breakfast. The coffee was for her, but the other item was for Levi. She didn't know if he would want anything, based on how he acted the last time she tried giving him food, but she had to at least try. It wouldn't help matters any if he didn't eat.

She returned to Levi's room to find things about the same as when she had left. Levi, however, looked more subdued than before; looking down at his hands that were busy fiddling with the hem of the sheet.

"Levi, I brought you something." Jane said softly.

Levi glanced up, unsurprised to see her, and then looked back down. "You didn't need to."

"Whether you like it or not, your body still needs food. Got this from that bakery guy over in a different food court. "

She handed Levi one half of a toasted cheese danish. He turned it over in his hands, studying it.

"I've never had one."

"Got you a bottle of water too. Enjoy."

Jane pulled up the chair she'd been sitting in yesterday and opened the top of the water bottle before giving it to Levi.

They sat in silence while having breakfast, or rather Jane drank her coffee and browsed through some stuff on her tablet while Levi ate a little bit of his half of the danish. The quiet was only broken by the occasional cough from Levi and when he told Jane she could have the rest of the danish and giving it back to her. Jane finished the rest that he didn't want while he lay back in bed, looking tired yet thoughtful.

A message from came through a couple minutes later from Ryan; they would be at Io in a couple hours.

 _'_ _About time.'_ She remarked quietly.

And then Levi called her name, sounding weak. Jane instantly turned her head up from the tablet.

"What? Are you-"

"I'm sorry." He muttered from where he lay.

"About what?"

"About snapping at you."

"Oh. That." She said. "It's okay. I understand that you're under duress-"

"No, it's just that- With the length of time Dr. Dalias has been gone, it feels like I've been forgotten about. But I know that's not true, and you're still here. You're trying to help me, and I... I returned your kindness in a horrible way."

"I can't really blame you for getting frustrated." Jane admitted. "You know, this whole thing is a god damn mess. You told me you were feeling unease and you turned out to be right for once. Shame on me for thinking you were overreacting. Now here we are. I know you're probably scared and upset, and really, I can't blame you."

"Still-" A cough. "I'm sorry."

"Accepted. Dr. Urvidian may be off on his own adventure, and Dr. Dalias may be still trying to find him, but you're not forgotten about. After all, I'm still here."

Levi nodded weakly, but then he spoke something else that sort of caught Jane off guard.

"I thought you disliked me."

Jane was confused by that statement, furrowing her brow. "Why do you think that?"

"You always seemed annoyed whenever I came by the infirmary." He said, looking away from her. "You heard me out, but I always got the impression you didn't really take me seriously and were eager to dismiss me."

"Well, when you're taking medical advice from the interface and appear in the infirmary five times a week over nothing-" She stopped short of that thought, aware of the irony. "At the very least though, I knew I needed to hear you out."

"That's your job."

"Maybe, but, Levi- you may get on my nerves a bit, but it doesn't mean that I hate you or don't care or want to see you gone. In fact, despite what you may think and how our interactions have been, I care about you."

"You do?"

"Levi..." She laid her hand over his. "I'm here now, aren't I? Of course I care, you idiot."

Levi was quiet, looking at her like she had just said the nicest thing he'd heard in all his life.

"Th...That means a lot, nurse Johns." He finally said.

"Yeah, well, you're my... my friend. So, that's what friends are for."

A moment passed, and then Levi tried a small yet sad laugh, although it ended in a cough. He took the water bottle at his side and took a quick drink from it before speaking again.

"Thank you." He managed, pulling himself together. "That makes me feel better. Though...I am a bit scared. I don't want to-" He suddenly looked downcast again. "I wish this wasn't happening..."

"Same here." She paused and then remembered something from yesterday. "Dr. Dalias told me something before he left, and I'm gonna borrow his words here. You're strong, Levi. You can make it, I'm sure. After all, someday I bet you're gonna end up as our next head chef."

"One can hope."

Suddenly Jane's pager went off. "What the-" She unclipped the thing from her belt and checked to see who the hell was paging her. "Seriously? Ugh- Levi, I gotta run."

"Everything alright?" Levi asked.

"Yeah, it's just something stupid." She ran a hand through her hair. "Will you be alright here?"

"I think so, yes."

"Awesome. You rest up."

She knew she just couldn't stay in here all day. The only reason she had been able to yesterday is because that's when this whole mess started and Ryan told her to stay with Levi. No one else ended up in the infirmary ether, which was a blessing (maybe all the protesters were scaring everyone away). But she knew something would probably happen today. At least it would help keep her mind off certain things. Although with the way Levi was now, it made her worry.

 

* * *

 

"Oh my God, of all the stupid- Argh!!"

"Hm? What- Oh. Is something wrong, nurse Johns?" Levi asked as she stormed back over to the chair near his bed and sat down in it. Levi, who had looked to be asleep when she walked in ranting, jolted into awareness and raised his head to look at her when she had spoken. Jane only realized this after he had spoke and felt a bit guilty for possibly waking him up. Still, she continued, since he had asked.

"Okay, so get this. We had two people come in. One was some idiot broke their arm because they though dancing on a table just to prove a point was a smart idea."

"What point would that be?" He asked after giving a cough.

"I can't even remember. And then the other one that was in provoked those protesters and got punched for their trouble."

"The protesters still around?"

"What do you think?" She groaned "It's not like they're magically gonna go away."

"Are you alright?" Levi asked.

She almost laughed at that. What irony this was! Levi asking her if she was okay when he's the one that was not. "Yeah, it's just people doing stupid shit like this annoys me."

"Maybe I can help get your mind off it. I was thinking... I would like to make you something."

"Me?"

"Yes. Could you hand me paper and a pencil?"

She was skeptical, but she did it anyway, briefly leaving to find some paper and attaching them to a clipboard. She found a draft pencil and gave that to him as well.

"Don't tell me you're writing a separate will for me, Dr. Dalias, and Dr. Urvidian." Jane said when she got back and handed him the items.

"No, nothing like that." He said, managing to sit up slightly. "Now sit down and hold still."

Jane did so. "Why?"

"Because I'm drawing your portrait." He turned his eyes to the paper, looking focused. Jane sat still, surprised by this sudden and now in progress gift.

"I didn't know you drew." She said.

"I dabble here and there. Not much because we usually have all our portraits done for us. Honestly this would be better working from hologram, but since you're right here this will do."

Jane remained as still as she could as Levi worked, only pausing from time to time to cough and glance at her for reference. Jane appreciated what he was doing, really, even in his current state. He didn't need to do this for her, but he'd wanted to.

"How's your chest feel?" She asked about ten minutes later, getting a bit fidgety from keeping the same position for so long.

After giving another cough he answered, "Same as before. It's an odd sensation."

"Yeah, I bet. You almost done? My nose itches."

"A moment more."

She shut up and let him finish. Another few minutes later, he finally put the pencil down and looked over the paper.

"Here." Levi handed the clipboard that the paper was attached to and pencil back to Jane, giving her the opportunity to look over her new portrait.

"Whoa..." She muttered.

She was surprised before by the fact that Levi drew, and now looking at his work, she was surprised again. It wasn't like looking into a mirror or anything, but it was well done; an image of herself staring back at her. Her head was slightly tilted in the image, looking serious. In the lower corner was a signature, A. D. Levi III.

"Do you like it?" Levi asked, relaxing back in bed.

Jane looked up from the portrait and to him, smiling. "I like it a lot."

The smile that came to his face brought back some light to his eyes, so Jane thought anyway,. "Thank you. I should have signed in Arian, but you don't know Arian, so Human English it is. Keep it to remember me by."

She wanted to tell him to stop acting like he was going to die, but she knew it was worthless to bother. She herself didn't even fully believe that anymore. "I will. I'd remember you anyway. Who could forget the guy who wants to have knife fights in the kitchen and has a thing against pants? And also secretly blew up the Dauntless."

"Shh. No one can prove that."

 

* * *

 

Around noon she was looking through the updated files she had on Levi to see if there was something she or Ryan had missed. She also had gathered up all the updates she had sent Ryan for any clues. She didn't have anywhere else to be, so she sat with Levi in his room.

She was expecting a call from Ryan too; him and Akmazian should be at Io by now, which meant soon they should find Dr. Urvidian.

 _'But will they be able to get back in time?'_ Jane wondered, flipping though the files on her tablet. _'Can Levi hold up another 24 hours?_ _I mean, Levi's not any worse yet, but not any better ether._ _Maybe if... When they find Dr. Urvidian I can just send over the files and Dr. Urvidian will figure out what's_ _going on_ _and tell us where to go from there._ _That way we can at least do something._ _'_

She reviewed the last set she had sent Ryan and thinking about getting more coffee since she had run out-

"N-Nurse...Johns." Levi croaked.

Jane looked up from her tablet. Levi had been drifting in and out of consciousness for the past three hours, but now sitting up and looking like he was in pain.

She just had to say something.

Jane got up and set her tablet aside. "Are you okay, Levi?"

He shook his head. "Something's not.... not right. I can't... can't...."

Levi pitched forward and Jane just barely caught him.

"Levi? Levi!"

 

* * *

 

Nearly 26 hours had gone by now since Ryan and Akmazian left, and still nothing from Ryan on Dr. Urvidian.

Levi had gone critical about 15 minutes ago and Jane had already sent a message to Ryan to inform him.

 

> _Ryan,_
> 
> _Levi's condition is critical._  
> 
> _I'm with Levi right now; he's unconscious. He suffered a pleural effusion earlier, and luckily there was someone on call that could get it fixed, but there's worry about it happening again... And that's the least of our problems. There's cellular damage everywhere else, widespread. It's already gotten to his respiratory system and I think it's starting to effect to his heart too; his pulse is acting abnormally. At this rate, I don't know how much longer he can hold out. Whatever this poison's doing, it's increased its attack and it's going to be too much for Levi._
> 
> _I can only hope you've found Dr. Urvidian by now. Hurry back as fast as you can. I don't think you have another 24 hours._
> 
> _-Jane Johns_

 

She'd sent that message half out of desperation, but she had received nothing back.

Jane didn't know what to do.

She sat with Levi at his bedside, keeping him company. For the time being he was still out of it, but Jane wasn't sure how much longer he was going to last. She wished Ryan would suddenly appear at any moment, but there was a good chance Ryan, Akmizian, and Dr. Urvidian wouldn't make it back in time.

So she would wait here with Levi.

 _'_ _God, for all it's worth, he doesn't deserve to go out in such a shitty way.'_ Jane thought.

He didn't deserve to die alone ether.

When Levi started to show signs of waking up, Jane jolted to attention. He stirred in his bed and then he opened his eyes. He didn't say anything at first, and Jane watched as he looked up at the ceiling. He started to move his head around slightly, his eyes searching, probably to try and get a bearing on his surroundings.

Then he found Jane and turned his head in her direction. "You're still here, nurse Johns?"

Jane nodded solemnly. God, his voice sounded so weak. "Hey."

"Hello."

"So..." Jane inched her chair as close as she could. "Do you remember at all what happened?"

"Not... really? My chest hurt and then... nothing."

"Yeah, well..." There was no pretending to be calm anymore. There was no way around it. "The reason you were having trouble breathing is because you had a pleural effusion, which basically means there was fluid building up around your lungs. I was able to get someone on call to help, and you passed out after it was drained. " She saw the look on Levi's face twist into shock, but she continued. "The poison- whatever it's done, it's gotten to your lungs and possibly your heart. I'm seeing an increase in cellular damage all across your body too."

"O-Oh..." He sounded lost. "Dr. Dalias and the others...?"

Jane shook her head. "I don't know. I told Dr. Dalias what happened, but he hasn't answered me back. No one's answering me. I don't know where they are-" Lies. She knew where they were by now. "-or if they've even found Dr. Urvidian. Dr. Dalias was supposed to tell me when he did, but I haven't heard from him."

Levi didn't say anything else, only staring at her, taking in her words. He then gave a shaky sigh and closed his eyes; letting his head rest against the pillow and looking absolutely defeated.

"Levi?" Jane called softly. "You with me?"

He opened his eyes again, but he looked like he wanted to cry. "I am."

 _'For now.'_ That same part of Jane reminded her. She didn't want to listen, but she knew what logic was telling her.

Jane couldn't think of anything else to say, so she didn't. What else could she say? What else could she say to her dying friend? There wasn't much to say at all.

After a few minutes of silence, Levi spoke again, his voice quiet.

"Do you know what I miss?" He asked, looking toward the ceiling.

"What?"

"Home." His voice cracked with sorrow. "I very much want to be home..."

Jane tried to think of something to say, and she did, but first she reached out and took his hand.

"Do you remember what I told you? Even if you're not truly home, you are home. Maybe not on Arian 7, but here on Eos 10. And I'm here. You're not alone."

He turned his head, a broken sort of expression on his face. Jane could have sworn she might have seen tears in his eyes. However, the despair melted off his face and was replaced with a shaky yet unsure smile.

"I-I remember. Thank you, nurse Johns."

"Hey, no problem." She softly spoke. "Always remember that."

"I will... I miss Arian 7, but this place was home for a time." His eyes drooped and his grip on her hand loosened slightly. "I'm tried..."

Jane wanted to tell him not to go to sleep, to just talk to her, but she could not. "Yeah, just rest. Everything will be alright."

He gave a weak nod and let his eyes close. "Stay... please."

"I'm not leaving you." And then in a quiet whisper, she added. "Call me Jane."

 

* * *

 

37 minutes later, his heart gave out.

Jane sat with him as the monitor flatlined, silent tears falling from her eyes. She was still holding his hand.

 

* * *

 

The charts she printed out didn't make sense. She'd checked Levi's post-mortem bio scan twice and it still wasn't making sense. She saw the cellular damage and his immune system had definitely showed a response, but even now she couldn't find the cause.

"Fucking hell!" She yelled, very much wanting to pull her hair out. Instead she threw her papers onto the ground out of frustration.

Her shoulders trembled, tense, but once she had calmed, she let out a shaky sigh and her shoulders slumped. She bent down and picked the papers off the floor, putting them back in order.

As she was picking up the papers, she noticed one sheet that had come loose and was still on the floor. It wasn't one of the charts though, and she stared at the forlorn paper when she saw it. After a moment, she picked this paper up too.

It was the portrait of herself, the one Levi had drawn for her before he went critical. His health was degrading, they both knew that, and yet he drew this for her. He wanted to make that for her. He'd done a pretty good job with the portrait as well.

Jane traced her fingers over the reflection of herself.

"God dammit..." She muttered. "Why'd it have to be you, Levi?"

She wanted to storm out of here, go back to her room, and curl up under the sheets of her bed. She wanted to pretend none of this ever happened. Ether that or scream out into the void of space.

Even so, in the middle of all wanting to vent all her frustration into space, she remembered had to try and call Ryan. She had to tell him Levi had died. She didn't know how she was going to be able to tell him, but she had to.

She also wanted to yell at Ryan; demand why he never answered her back when she said Levi was in critical condition, demand why the hell they didn't get back here sooner. She was also totally going to smack Dr. Urvidian into oblivion if Ryan and Akmazian found him and brought him back.

But nether of those things were going to bring Levi back. Jane knew that much.

_'Pull yourself together, Jane.'_

Wiping at her eyes she fired up the com link and called up Ryan. It took a couple rings, but she was finally put through.

"Ryan..." She tried to keep her voice steady.

"Yeah, we're on our way." He replied. So they did find Dr. Urvidian, so she assumed from that response... but it was too little too late. "How's Levi?"

Jane opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't find her voice. She couldn't find the strength to speak the words, a lump forming in her throat instead. She thought she'd be able to tell him, but it was harder than she thought, still grappling with the fact that Levi was gone.

He shouldn't be dead. This should have never happened.

_'He should be alive...'_

"Jane?"

Ryan was waiting. She had to say something. He needed to know.

She took a breath and held the last image of Levi smiling at her in her mind, even as he was dying.

_'Just remember him as he was.'_

Jane managed to speak, and yet tears came to her eyes once more.

"Levi's dead..."


	2. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Ryan and Dr. Urvidian return to Eos 10, Jane finds out what really happened to Levi, and that maybe, just maybe, they can bring him back.

As Jane had waited for Ryan and the others to return, she put Levi back in stasis, as she was asked. She wondered why Dr. Urvidian had asked her to do that, as she didn't see how it mattered when Levi was dead.

She still did it, no matter how much it pained her to look at Levi's dead body.

Once she set him in stasis, she took a step back and stood in silence. She didn't stay there forever though. After a few minutes of crushing stillness, save for the ever present hum of the station, Jane left the room. She couldn't be in here.

She retreated once more to the break room, and sank down into a chair, burying her head in her hands. There was no use in crying anymore; It was over and done now.

All she could do was wait.

 

* * *

 

Ryan and Dr. Udvidian looked tired when they returned, trudging back into the infirmary. Akmazian wasn't with them, but she didn't care about where he had decided to run off to. He probably went back to the cargo bay. Jane was happy to see Ryan and Dr. Urvidian, but only for a brief moment, as her mood quickly shifted and she felt anger, mostly toward Dr. Urvidian.

"How... How dare you?" Jane growled. "You leave when we need you the most."

"Jane." Ryan tried, catching her tone.

"Don't 'Jane' me." She hissed at Ryan before turning her attention back to Dr. Urvidian. "Maybe if you had been here Levi would be alive. You should have bee here when we needed you."

"Jane, come on, don't-"

Jane wasn't listening, as she curled her hand into a fist and moved forward.

She tried to swing a punch at Dr. Urvidian, but Ryan held her back. "Calm down, Jane!"

"Don't tell me to calm down!"

"Oh for God's sake- We can bring Levi back!" Dr. Urvidian shouted, probably to shut her up.

And it worked. Jane fell still and Ryan let go of her. "I... I don't understand."

"We took a look at the files you sent. Dr. Dalias didn't see anything initially, and apparently nether did you, but when we looked closer, we found something."

"What kind of something?"

"That Levi's own immune system attacked him." Ryan cut in.

Jane was taken aback. "Oh my God... How? Why?"

"It was the poison. It sent us on a wild goose-chase looking for something that wasn't there. According to Akmazian the poison was made specifiably for Levi. It literally reprogrammed his immune system upon exposure and disappeared, which is why we couldn't see anything and only recognized the immune response, just not as closely because we tricked ourselves into looking for something else. As Dr. Urvidian put it, the damage had already been done once it the poison faded, because it had done what it was meant to do."

"Jesus... But what does this have to do with Dr. Urvidian claiming he can bring Levi back?"

"I'm still here you know." Dr. Urvidian grumbled. "I'm saying that because it's possible."

"He means we have a plan." Ryan added.

"A plan?" Jane questioned. "What plan?"

"One to revive Levi and fix the damage that has been done." Dr. Urvidian explained. "You put him in stasis minutes after death, so we still have time. What we need to do is to, again, reprogram his immune system and then fix the damage; undoing what the poison did. The only problem is that the only way we can do that fast enough and accurately enough is... tricky."

"Tricky?"

Ryan gave her the answer this time. "We basically have to give him the flu. Specificly the one those on board the Dauntless had."

"Are you serious?"

"It's the only option we have; anything else will take too long. This works fast enough for our time frame and his elevated immune response won't be able to suppress it. We just have to modify it for our purposes. The reason it's tricky is because if we're not careful we could end up killing Levi again once we give it to him. And there's containment to think about too; we'll have to quarantine him."

Jane crossed her arms. "I hope you know, assuming this works, Levi will kill you if you put that virus into him."

"Well, it's all we got. If this works, he can be mad at me later."

"Nurse Johns," Dr. Urvidian spoke again. "I understand you're upset, but getting angry about it will not help when we still have work to do."

Jane knew, of course, he was right. Taking her frustrations out on Dr. Urvidian would not change anything nor help. The only absolute now was that there was a chance to bring Levi back. It was a crazy sounding plan, but it was a chance.

She let out a long sigh. "I hate it when you're right. It's just that... nether of you were here. I was with Levi for the better part of 26 hours. You're not the one who had to sit there and watch him die."

"...No, of course not." Ryan said, gently. "I'm sorry I put that in that position."

Jane shrugged. "Someone had to. Who else was gonna make sure he didn't blow anything else up?" She tried to laugh it off, but it didn't work. "Bad joke. Shouldn't speak ill of the dead."

She lapsed into silence, looking down at the floor. They had not been here, so they could not know what the past several hours had been like for her. However, she knew her anger was unfounded because Ryan had left to find Dr. Urvidian so they could help Levi, and what happened on Ryan's trip was another side to this that she would have him explain to her later. On the other hand, Dr. Urvidian had left before they tried to find him the first time, so he couldn't have known what had happened to Levi at that time.

Her thoughts meanwhile wandered back to this plan that Ryan and Dr. Urvidian had explained. Jane wasn't sure what to think of it- save Levi by infecting him with the flu? Crazy. And at the same time it was also a risk on many levels. What if they ended up killing Levi again?

Surprisingly, in the middle of Jane's wondering, it was Dr. Urvidian who broke the silence.

"We will fix him." He said, as if it was something predetermined, set in stone.

Still, Jane found herself giving a nod. "Yeah."

"Now, are we going to stand here or get to work? We do technically have a patient to be attending to."

"Right. Let's get started." Ryan agreed.

"Levi is still in stasis, yes?" Dr. Urvidian asked.

"As I left him. Put him in stasis right after you hung up." Jane answered.

"We must remember to be careful though. Working with this virus comes with great risk."

"You mean killing Levi again or accidentally starting a plague." Jane clarified.

"We'll have to be mindful or if we screw up Akmazian said I'll get a worse nickname than 'Dauntless Defiler'." Ryan said.

"Great. This is going to be fun." She sarcastically remarked.

 

* * *

 

It was another long day after that.

Jane, Ryan, and Dr. Urvidian set to fixing up Levi; not an easy process since, to begin with, he was dead. The other major thing was modifying the flu virus for their purpose... and being very, very careful about it. The time frame was a bit of a problem. They were keeping Levi in stasis for the time being, but the longer they took, the less of a chance they had of reviving him.

It was one of the most stressful things Jane had ever been a part of, to say the least.

She and Ryan mostly followed Dr. Uvidian's lead on the plan; setting up a quarantine first and foremost, and then working on modifying the virus. That was the very, very stressful part. Jane followed along well enough, but she hoped after this part things would go smoothly. Everything that care after was not as stressful, but still.

Later, after running a simulation on the modified virus, Dr. Urvidian deemed it ready.

They then turned to Levi, bringing him out of stasis. Jane didn't fully get all the jargon that involved apparently 'reviving' Levi, but Dr. Urvidian did most of the work.

And astonishingly, he actually did it. Jane was actually, truly impressed by that.

Soon after they set Levi in quarantine and injected him with their modified virus; their twisted cure. The only thing they could do now was to wait and see how his body reacted, if this was actually going to work or not. They had to make sure the modified virus didn't outright kill him first.

So they would wait....

 

* * *

 

Jane sat at one of the breakroom tables with a cup of coffee, savoring the taste. She needed a break from the stress and monitoring.

The waiting was stressful in itself, and she wished, she prayed that this was going to work.

Jane heard the door open and she looked up, seeing Dr. Urvidian walk in.

"Dr. Dalias told me you would be here." He said.

"Just taking a break. Also I wanted coffee. This waiting around is so stupid."

"We have to wait." He came over and sat across from her. "We need to know if this is working first."

"I'm aware." She took a sip of her coffee. "So this whole thing- it was like some sort of autoimmune disease?"

"In a way." Dr. Urvidian confirmed. "Ultimately, it was caused by the poison, since it had reprogrammed his immune system to begin with."

Jane shook her head. "Should've seen it. Makes sense now."

"You didn't know, not when you were looking for something else."

"I get it, we were tricked. I don't need a lecture."

"I'm not trying to give you a lecture." There was a beat of silence before he spoke again. "Look; Ryan told me you stayed here, sending him updates on Levi. From what he told me, you did all you could. You did your job."

Jane looked up. "You being serious?"

"Perhaps."

"So you really mean that?" She started to smile.

"Don't push your luck, nurse Johns."

Jane heard the door open again, and she and Dr. Urvidian looked over to see Ryan. Her friend had a smile on his face, and that's all Jane needed to know.

 

* * *

 

"And that should do it." Ryan said, finishing up with injecting Levi with an anti-viral.

"Good. We can finally start treating him properly." Jane commented.

After careful monitoring and waiting, they found evidence their plan was working and that their modified virus was reversing the poison's damage. He wasn't completely better, as he was now infected with the same virus they used to cure him, but now they could start to treat that. They couldn't before until they could confirm that their plan was working, but now they could, and it was sort of a relief. They still had to monitor Levi and keep him in quarantine, along with following all the protocols that came with quarantine until he was better, but it sort of felt like things were winding down.

"Looks like things are getting back to normal."

"About as normal as they can be." Ryan amended.

She chuckled and glanced over at Levi. He was still unconscious, but far better than he had been before. It wasn't clear when he would wake up, but he would eventually, Jane knew that. His body was simply trying to recover from what the poison had done to him, plus now being infected with the flu on top of that.

"Quite a day, huh?" Jane said. "Or, you know, past couple of days, to be accurate."

"Yeah, but Levi's fine now- well, fine-ish. He'll recover."

"I know, it's was just kinda surreal, you know? Of all people, Levi gets poisoned, so it turns out he was right about something for once. Honestly, I'm too used to seeing him in the infirmary, so it'd be weird if we hadn't been able to fix him and we wouldn't be seeing Levi around anymore. It would kinda feel like something was missing."

"Oddly enough, I'd have to agree with you on that."

"I also kinda owe Dr. Urvidian an apology for almost punching him in the face." She paused, taking another look at Levi before turning back to Ryan. "So, how was the trip?"

"Weird." Ryan answered. "But we found Dr. Urvidian on Io like I suspected. Me and our 'Robin Hood friend' wandered around there for like an hour before we found him. I would have told you, but... to put it simply, Dr. Urvidian was kind of a mess and we got into some trouble."

"What kind of mess?"

Ryan got quiet. "The kind I'm familiar with. Crash and burn kind of mess."

Jane nodded, knowing she didn't need to press further. "Noted. I really shouldn't have tried to punch him then."

"I thought you were going to punch both of us."

"You? Maybe, but only because you never responded back. What kind of trouble did you guys get into anyway?"

"Let's see- a housekeeper tried to shoot us. I got your message while she was pointing a rifle at us."

"Ah. That would explain it. Glad you had fun; I got my ass kicked at chess."

Ryan chuckled. "You let Levi beat you at chess?"

"Hey, it's not my fault if he's actually good at it! He's all about strategy and chess is a game about strategy."

"Mmhm."

Jane turned her attention back to Levi, and knowing he couldn't hear her, she whispered, "He doesn't believe me."

"Jane, leave him be. He's resting." Ryan said, though she wasn't really listening.

And it must have been luck that she hadn't turned away just yet... because Jane saw Levi's hand twitch.

Jane froze, wondering if maybe, just maybe...

 _'Is he waking up?'_ She wondered.

She watched for any other reaction, and after a moment, she saw his head move to one side and he stirred in bed, as if stretching his body ever so slightly, as if his body was waking-

"Oh my God- Ryan! Ryan, he's waking up!"

Alerted by her call, Ryan came over. "There we go. Looks like it worked."

"Yeah." She couldn't help but grin widely, relieved that their crazy plan had actually worked.

"Levi. Levi, can you hear me?" Ryan said calmly, coaxing Levi back into consciousness. Jane stood by and watched as his eyes opened.

"Dr. Dalias?" He managed. It was kind of good to hear his voice again, even as he started carrying on about how horrible he felt at the moment. It wasn't really a surprise, since they had given him the flu in order to save him. Jane still thought that was twisted. Some irony if ever there was one.

Levi asked about the poison too, and Ryan did confirm that the poison was gone, but of course that left explaining about why he wasn't exactly completely better yet. Ryan started to try and explain, but wasn't exactly good at getting to the point.

 _'To hell with it.'_ Jane thought.

"You have the flu, Levi." She stated, stepping forward.

"Nurse Johns?" He turned his head to her.

"That's what I was getting at." Ryan picked up again.

Levi looked back at Ryan. "I have the flu? The same one from the plague ship?"

_'Not a plague ship.'_

"Yeah." Ryan confirmed.

"Oh Gods." He groaned, shutting his eyes momentarily. Jane cast Ryan a 'I-told-you-so' look.

"We used it to reprogram your immune system and undo what the poison had done." Ryan explained. "I was just able to give you your first dose of anti-virals so you should start feeling better in a day or so, but until then you're gonna have to stay in quarantine."

"So, let me get this right- To heal me, you infected me with a virus that almost wiped out your entire species?"

Jane saw Ryan glance over at her, and she just gave him a look of 'what are you looking at me for', and then he turned back to Levi.

"Er..." Ryan cleared his throat. "That's one way of putting it. Yes."

"I see. Well... How...can I ever thank you...?"

Ryan sighed. "We'll think of something."

"Anything else I should know?"

"Nope." But then Ryan hesitated, and then added. "Well, uh, you might have been dead for a really really short time. Couple hours..." And then also added. "A day at most."

 _' 'Might have'?'_ Jane thought, as if Ryan could hear her thoughts. ' _Yeah, sure.'_

"If you want, I can keep you sedated until the anti-virals have worked." Ryan continued.

"Yes please."

Jane held back a laugh, only waiting till Levi was out again before even letting a smile overtake her once more.

_'Same ol' Levi.'_

 

* * *

 

About a week and a half later, she encountered Levi in the infirmary, _again_. It was probably the longest she had gone without seeing him there, but then again he'd only recently recovered from that whole ordeal with the poison.

Of course, he'd found something new to overreact about, and of course it was too early in the morning for this. She hadn't had her coffee yet.

Still, she heard him out and insisted that he was fine, like she always had. It was routine by now, really.

"No; keep your damn pants on. I swear, if you hate pants so much, go get a skirt." Jane said at one point, as she was expecting that.

When she finally got him to leave, Jane sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Once he was gone, Jane took out a folded piece of paper from her pocket and opened it up. It was the portrait of herself Levi had drawn. She had kept it nearby since it was given to her.

She admired it for a moment and folded it back up to put in her pocket.

"And order is restored." 


End file.
